


Bitter and Sweet

by Silveryfeather



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Acceptance, Ending Relationship, F/M, Lingering Romantic Feelings, Lovers to Friends, Post-War, Understanding, reluctance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-12 21:14:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19237225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silveryfeather/pseuds/Silveryfeather
Summary: Cassie and Jake spend a few moments alone just after the final battle.





	Bitter and Sweet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JustAnotherGhostwriter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAnotherGhostwriter/gifts).



 

Cassie’s fingers slipped into Jake’s as she led him down the cold hallways of the poolship, heading towards the docking bay where the andalites were waiting to transport them to Earth. For the first time in a long time, they were alone. Just her and Jake. 

Jake’s fingers tightened around her own as he turned his face to look at her with his tired, olden eyes. The very same eyes she had been seeing for nearly a year now. The eyes that made her heart hurt. What happened to the eyes she knew? The warm, yet strong ones?

“So it’s um… over I guess.” 

Jake suddenly jerked startling Cassie. His eyes widened for a moment before he relaxed, a smile of realization spreading over his lips.    
  
“The war? I guess it is. We’ve still got a lot of work ahead of us. I don’t even want to think about what’s going to happen when we get back down to Earth.” Jake let out a tired sigh, finally letting his mask slip slightly in Cassie’s presence. “Hopefully we won’t have to fight for awhile.”

He slipped his hand from her’s, narrowing his eyes at it as he lifts it up slightly to examine it. Cassie blinked up at him then looked back down, knowing. For the longest time she knew it but she only expressed it once. She knew for a fact that he wasn’t her Jake anymore. But for a little bit, she just wanted to pretend.    
  
“Yeah I can’t imagine who’s waiting for us down there. Probably the press, the army, and maybe even the president himself.” Cassie looked up at the pale silver ceiling, wondering how they were even going to handle that. Maybe they should just let Marco deal with the press. After all, he might love the attention.

“Ugh…” Jake rubbed between his eyes for a moment, catching Cassie’s attention. Cassie looked curiously up at him stopping just as he does. Jake pulled his fingers from the bridge of his nose. “Sorry don’t worry, Cassie I’m fine.”   
  
“That didn’t sound fine.” Cassie crossed her arms over her chest, a worried frown on her lips. “You don’t need to think about it if you don’t want to.”   
  
Jake sighed again. “Yes I do Cassie. There’s a lot I’ve gotta think of… I mean what am I going to tell my Aunt?”   
  
Cassie fell silent, her eyes dropping to the floor. Yeah, that was right, Rachel was gone. But should Jake really be the one to break it to her? Rachel was his cousin yeah, but she was her best friend as well.    
  
“I could tell her.” Cassie offered, her soft brown eyes meeting his. “You-”   
  
“Cassie, I think it’s best I tell her.” Jake interrupted her, putting a hand up. Cassie could tell he wasn’t going to let her win if she argued with him. He felt fully responsible for what happened, she could tell. That… hurt her for some reason.    
  
The two slowly started walking down the hall again, silence stretching between them. It made Cassie nervous. Nervous of what was going through Jake’s thoughts at this point. She was afraid too… but she shouldn’t be right? 

“Cassie?”

Cassie looked up but didn’t look at Jake. There was something odd about his tone of voice. Something that made her heart tighten sickeningly. 

“Jake?” She replied, starting to bite her lip now. 

“It’s over isn’t it?” 

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he was talking about. 

“Yeah…” 

Silence settled between them, her words echoing through the hall. Her nails dug into her morphing suit sleeves as she bit down almost hard enough to draw blood. Her chest hurt so bad. But she knew for so long how this was going to end. It was for the best right?

Cassie nearly jerked as Jake suddenly grabbed her arm. Her eyes snap to his and she found herself unable to breathe as she searched his gaze. The look of numbed pain in his gaze made her want to take her words back. But she knew there was nothing to take them back. She couldn’t just say she was joking, because she really wasn’t. 

“I still… I still like you a lot Cassie.” Jake’s fingers tightened around her arm. “But… we both know how this is going to end. I’m not the same guy.”   
  
“I know.” Cassie whispered, hating how melodramatic this whole thing was. Why couldn’t they just break up like a normal couple? Jake just telling her in the hallway of school and then them going their own ways. Sure she would cry but at least… at least it wouldn’t hurt  _ this  _ much.

“I know Jake.” Her vision blurred as tears bubbled up in her eyes. “I know.”

“Maybe if this was another time line… Maybe-”   
  
“But it’s not Jake.” Cassie stopped him there, grabbing his free hand in her’s, squeezing. “We can still be friends though, right?”   
  
Jake smiled down at her sadly, nodding his head. “Yeah I guess. We’ve been through way too much just to… ya know…”   
  
“Yeah.” Cassie agreed with a small smile.    
  
Jake paused for a few moments, letting go of her arm. He rubbed the back of his head before quietly asking, “Do you mind if we… kissed one more time?”   
  
Cassie found herself a little bit surprised by his request. Should she? Would that be a good idea? Would that make her fall in love with him again? Would she be able to let him go?

Or would it just be a sweet release?

After weighing the consequences for a few moments longer, Cassie nodded.   
  
The two of them slowly leaned close. Cassie’s eyes fluttered closed as she wrapped her arms around Jake. She could feel his breath warming her lips as they came in close. For a moment her heart clenched as his arms wrapped around her. His warm lips pressed against her’s for a split second then it was over. But in that moment every neuron in her body alighted with energy. It felt like her heart was about to burst out of her chest. It was... amazing.  
  
The two of them broke apart, her chest heaving with excitement. 

Unable to figure out something to say, she hugged him tight instead. She buried her face into his shoulder while he placed a hand on the back of her head, fingers digging into her short, curly hair. The pain of finally letting go made her want to hold on even harder. But she knew that holding on would just hurt them both. So two of them stood in silence for a few moments longer before they stepped back. 

Jake gave her a stiff nod before crooking a finger down the hall. “We better get going.”

Like that the moment was over and so was their relationship. But yet as they start heading down the hall again, peace settled in Cassie’s mind. Peace of knowing Jake still cared about her. Peace of understanding that even if they were not longer ‘together’ they were still together. They would still be friends despite their past together. Maybe it was better that they broke up like this.    
  
“Hey, what the heck took you guys so long!?” Marco hopped off the box he had been on next to the door. Jake frowned at him before shrugging his shoulders non-chalantly. 

“Got lost I guess.”

“Jeez, and I thought  _ I  _ was bad at directions. It was only a left and a right.” Marco grinned as he slapped Jake on the back. The andalites watching behind them stiffened when they heard his hand met his back with a meaty crack. She couldn’t help but smile at their startled expressions.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s just get down to Earth and get things done. I have a feeling we’ve got a lot to do.” Jake stepped past Marco and headed to the andalites waiting in front of an opened ship. He stopped to talk to Ax for a moment before disappearing inside with the andalite. 

“So uh… what really happened?” Cassie nearly jumped as Marco spoke in her ear. She frowned at him before shaking her head at him.

“Nothing, we just talked about what we’re going to do when we get down on Earth.” Cassie could feel her face burning with embarrassment as she wondered if Marco knew. Had he already figured it out?   
  
“Boring.” Marco made a dismissive motion with his hand before walking to the ship himself. Jake, who had been standing at the door waiting for them, suddenly had Marco jostling him back into the ship. Jake gave a quick look over his shoulder at Cassie looking at bit worried. Probably worried she had told Marco.

But she hadn’t.   
  
Cassie stood there for a few moments longer, clutching her chest. 

She might not have Jake anymore but she did have her future and her happiness. 

She then let out a sigh, releasing her suit before straightening up. There was no point in delaying their return any longer. So she gathered what she could of herself and made her way to the ship.

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually the first time I've ever written Cassie/Jake properly. Too bad the idea I got was this heart wrenching story. Ah, but sometimes you've got to accept that not everything will be painless. 
> 
> To Ghosty: I hope this pleases you! As soon as I saw Cassie/Jake in your requests I just was a little bit too excited to write this. Hopefully this will give you just as many feels as it gave me writing it. Hopefully it's not too bittersweet for you!


End file.
